Invisalign half way through

Straightening your teeth by any means is a fairly long process, and the changes seem minimal as the months go on, until one day you realise you have a Hollywood-worthy smile.

After the initial stages of Invisalign, the pain, getting used to wearing plastic trays, having attachments stuck to my teeth and my teeth filed, wearing my braces has become second nature.

The only problem that arises, and it’s a slight one, is when I change the trays every two weeks. The new braces understandably feel tight as they get to work moving my teeth on to the next stage. The first night especially the tightness can be hard to bear, and I’ve found the longer I go on, the more discomfort I’m in when it’s brace change time. The pain is minor and is easy to forget when you’re doing something else.

Throughout the process I’ve been visiting dentist Dr. Favero and orthodontist Dr. Elettra Aguglia at Favero Dental Clinic (faverowimpoleclinic.com) for routine checkups. Not all teeth professionals will have an orthodontist on hand, as dentists can learn the process of Invisalign themselves. However Dr. Favero warns over the dangers of only seeing a dentist.

“The dentist needs to be a specialist and needs to have a lot of knowledge,” he told Cover Media. “A lot of general dentists use it but I think that, for certain cases, there is a higher risk of not having the perfect results.

“Because since we don’t manage the patient at home all the time and we don’t know what they do, it’s more difficult to reach the result. And also a lot of dentists are not specialised in ortho; they don’t know every single type of malocclusion. They could give it to a patient but it might not be the right treatment to move the teeth into the right position. For example a patient could need mini screws or elastic bands to really pull the tooth into the position that you want and the force you need to apply is so high you need an upper point, and you don’t have any upper points with Invisalign.”

Selecting your specialist is just as important as deciding you want to fix your teeth, so chose carefully, take your time and seek the advice of experts.